Automation Technologies and Machines in the Changing Workplace: A Review

(03/2026)

Abstract

This research provides a review of the Science and Technology Studies (STS) literature on how machines and automation technologies change the landscape of workplaces and human work. While STS scholars have increasingly placed an emphasis on including inequality and sociotechnical issues in their studies, the study of work and workplaces remains a relatively neglected research topic. This research strives to pinpoint specific debates in the discourse, with the aim of bringing perspectives from the literature together holistically. With this, the diverging proclivities of the examined journals in terms of research are also acknowledged and commented upon. The research method is that of a semi- systematic review. Literature from the following journals is investigated: Osiris, Technology and Culture, Social Studies of Science, and Science, Technology, and Human Values. The discourse is divided into four thematic clusters. The main argument developed in this research is twofold: First, the literature is fragmented and aligns largely with the High- and Low-Church distinction in how STS scholars research and teach. Second, considerations of power struggle and disempowerment appear as underlying elements throughout the literature in different forms. A large scope replication of this research could yield more detailed results on the High- and Low-Church divide as well as debates on disempowerment. Along with STS scholars, this research could contribute to the studies of labour relations, organizational sociology, and machine ethics. For STS, this research could possibly assist in future attempts at theory-building.